Girls as young as 7 feel pressure to be pretty - body confidence study

The charity's annual girls' attitudes survey, published on Tuesday, found that girls were suffering from a crisis in body confidence, with 61% of those aged seven to 21 feeling happy with how they look, down from 73% in 2011, The Guardian reports.

The study - the largest annual research of its kind - suggests that girls as young as seven feel under pressure to be pretty.

More than a third (35%) of seven- to 10 year-old girls agreed that women were rated more on their appearance than their abilities, and 36% said they were made to feel their looks were their most important attribute.

Campaigners said the findings showed the need to combat the "objectification and harassment ... ruining girls' lives".

The survey also revealed low levels of body confidence among girls. Almost two-fifths (38%) of the same age group think they are not pretty enough, while a similar number feel they are judged more on their appearance than their ability. Almost a quarter (23%) said they felt they needed to be perfect, while 15% said they felt embarrassed or ashamed by the way they looked.

The majority of seven- to 10-year-olds said that what would most improve their lives would be if people would stop judging girls and women on the way they look.

The survey questioned 1,627 girls and young women aged between seven and 21 about a range of issues from health and wellbeing to relationships and careers.

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